Title: Million Dollar Bachelor 20/Epilogue
Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: William/Xander, William/Lindsey, William/Gunn
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: William Pratt is a successful author of books about adventures of a vampire named Spike. He has decided that he needs something more in his life so he has decided to invite three strangers into his home hoping to find the person he has been looking for.
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse and a rip off of reality show The Bachelor
Beta'd by: Whichclothes

Part Twenty

In Lindsey's opinion he was in hell. For the last two hours they had walked around taking pictures on the Hollywood walk of fame looking like stupid tourists. They had been stopped multiple times by real tourists asking if they would mind taking pictures of them. Lindsey wanted to break their cameras. Did he look like some photographer? What did he care about their vacation and where they came from? Plus why were there so many people coming up to William, interested in his books? Vampires were overrated.

William was having a blast taking pictures of all the stars and talking to some of the tourists. Some of them knew who he was and would stop and tell him what they thought of his books while others begged for another book. They needed to know what would happen to Drusilla. It was fun.

There was a smile on Xander's face as he watched William interact with people who came up to him to talk about his book. William was great with them. He didn't look annoyed or flustered like a lot of people would. Even though a couple of the people were criticizing some of William's work he took it in stride, first thanking them for reading his book and then saying that he was sorry that they didn't enjoy it and if they read the next of Spike's adventures that he hoped they enjoyed it. In the end William was amazing.

Finally the last group dispersed and William came over to Xander and Lindsey. Lindsey looked annoyed and had no problem showing it. "Sorry," William said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"No." Xander shook his head. "It was cool."

"Cool?" Lindsey said, taken aback. "It wasn't cool. They basically badgered William." He wrapped his arms around William. "Are you all right?"

Xander rolled his eyes. "If you thought he was in trouble why didn't you do anything to help him?" Xander had decided that he wasn't going to play nice with Lindsey anymore. Gunn had the right idea about telling it as it was.

Lindsey didn't answer but just glared.

"Why don't we go to the diner?" William asked. He wasn't blind to the fact that Lindsey and Xander didn't like each other. Hated each other even, but that didn't mean he was going to let that ruin what was supposed to be a good time.

Xander's stomach suddenly grumbled loudly. Food sounded good.

It only took a few minutes to reach Mel's. It wasn't that busy which meant it wasn't too loud. They found a corner booth. Both Xander and Lindsey sat on opposite sides leaving William to decide who he would sit next to. After a few minutes of debating a waitress came over and he just dropped down beside Lindsey.

They ordered their food and Xander tried to hide his disappointment at William picking Lindsey. Did it mean something? Maybe he just panicked and sat down because the waitress came over? He mentally shook his head, he couldn't let William see it bothered him too much or it would upset him. So he plastered what he hoped looked like a real smile on his face.

William looked around the restaurant. He'd never been there before. It was nice. Each table had its own personal little jukebox machine. He wondered if they worked or they were just for show.

"This place is… nice," Lindsey lied not fooling anyone. "It's not like the places I go to. I'm sure Will knows what I mean."

Xander frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I just mean that William and I are sort of in another category than you are, is all," Lindsey explained. "It's nothing personal."

William shot Lindsey a look, knowing exactly what he was saying and not liking it. "I like this place. It has personality I think."

Xander smiled. "This is my favorite restaurant. Sparky loves the Rimmy Cajun cheeseburger."

"Is that healthy for him?" William asked with concern.

"Oh yeah. One day I brought it home, when I went to get a beer I came back and he ate the whole thing. I was so freaked out I phoned the vet and got him in the next day. The doctor was amazed to see that it didn't upset his stomach at all," Xander explained. "He only gets it a couple times a year. I don't want to chance him eating too many you know?"

William sagged in relief. When the waitress came back with their food he ordered a Rimmy Cajun Cheeseburger in a doggy bag. Xander and William both sniggered at that.

They ate dinner in silence, the only noises coming from their table were moaning. The food was delicious. That made Lindsey hate Xander even more. His Marilyn's Checker Cheeseburger may have been the best burger he'd ever had. How could he show up here? What if one of his colleagues saw him? What would they think of him?

Bad Boy's Beef Liver and Onions was the best liver and onions William had ever had. William loved liver and onions and was ecstatic that it was on the menu. He was surprised to see Xander and Lindsey both agree that liver and onions was disgusting with a shudder.

William also noticed the almost distressed look on Xander's face before Xander plastered the fakest looking smile he had ever seen. There wasn't a doubt in his mind it was because he sat beside Lindsey and not Xander but he had to make a quick decision. In fact if he was being truthful he was glad he sat beside Lindsey. That way he could look at Xander without having to crane his neck. He was actually staring at Xander. Xander was a magnificent creature; how could he not? If that was against the law he was guilty, lock him up and throw away the key.

Xander stole glances at William, instantly realizing he was being watched. Was William upset that he was upset? Could William tell? Xander didn't want to upset William but he wanted to sit by William, was that so bad? He bit into his Elvis Country Club sandwich. He paused in mid chew. What just touched his leg? Xander first looked over at Lindsey who was scarfing down his chili cheese fries. Couldn't be him. He turned his focus to William who was smiling shyly at him.

William was playing footsies with him. It was nice. Weird but nice. There was no way Lindsey was getting the same treatment. Xander smiled back and continued to eat, rubbing his own sneaker against William's.

William took tons of pictures of them together hanging off the wax statues of some of the most famous celebrities in the world. They clung to the hot guys of the movie industry like Matthew McConaughey, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds. Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was absolutely incredible. The statues were so life-like it felt like they were actually watching William.

"Do you think they are really this hot?" Xander asked as he walked around a model of Hugh Jackman. "They seem so perfect," he commented.

"No one is perfect," Lindsey said with a snort. He eyed Ryan Gosling. He was definitely fuckable.

Xander looked over at William. Lindsey was wrong. William was perfect. "I don't know about that," he said.

William looked up and saw it was Xander's turn to stare at him. Wait. Was Xander implying that he was perfect? No one had ever thought of him as perfect before. Well, not that he ever knew about anyway.

"Excuse me." A woman in her mid-fifties came over to them. "I'm sorry but it's closing time."

"Oh," William said somewhat disappointedly. They hadn't finished looking at all of the statues.

Xander took hold of William's hand. "We can come back again. They are always adding new ones to the collection."

"Right," William said with a smile. Hopefully he could come back with Xander. Lindsey didn't seem to enjoy it all that much. In fact he didn't seem to do anything that could be considered childish. That would be something William had to take into consideration. He looked over at Lindsey. He still wasn't happy about Lindsey's bad-mouthing Gunn when he didn't know the situation. William didn't like Lindsey bad-mouthing Gunn period. Now the only thing he needed to know was how to actually deal that situation.

Note: I haven't eaten the food the boys have so I cannot guarantee that they really are as good as they are saying it is.